《大富翁》游戲的前世今生

David Greene （Host）： We’ve got quite a story for you to listen to about a certain board game—1）Monopoly. It can be pretty addictive once you start playing it， right？ Well， it turns out finding the true origins of the game is even more addictive. It’s consumed author and journalist Mary Pilon， who has a new book out called “The Monopolists.”She describes the history of the game as we’ve known it. It was the Great Depression. A salesman named Charles Darrow was out of work， desperate to support his family. And in his dark， damp basement， he 2）toiled and 3）tinkered with a board game， inventing what would become an American 4）icon.

Mary Pilon： I think that Darrow’s story， from a publicity 5）standpoint， is a beautiful story. Who doesn’t want to believe that they can go into their basement in one of the nation’s darkest hours and create something that will change， you know， their own fate and make everybody rich and make you beloved？ I mean， I think that’s a great story. I can’t even tell you how many times in the last few years people say， oh， right， you’re doing a book about Monopoly. It was invented in the Great Depression， right？ I mean， this thing has stuck like nobody’s business. And I actually think the true story’s more interesting.

Greene： The true story of Monopoly begins long before Charles Darrow rolled the dice—a few decades， actually—with a woman named Lizzie Magie， who lived in Washington， D.C. and 6）patented something called The Landlord’s Game， which was， in some great irony， an argument against the concentration of wealth. Her game， though， had an incredible resemblance to modern-day Monopoly.

Pilon： So Lizzie Magie was a pretty astonishing woman. She was an 7）outspoken feminist. She had acted. She’d done some performing. She had written some poetry. And she was a game designer. And at the time that she patented her game， it was before women had the right to vote. And I was very surprised. I thought， you know， female game designers—they’re getting more 8）traction today. But it’s still unusual. And at the time she put her patent application in， fewer than 1 percent of patents in the United States came from women.

Greene： But Lizzie was a rare case. She got the patent， and her game began to spread around the country， including to the Quakers of Atlantic City， N.J.， who added all the Atlantic City street names—Atlantic Avenue， Kentucky Avenue， Park Place. It was through a Quaker friend that Charles Darrow got his hands on the game board and sold it as his own to Parker Brothers. The company， like much of America， went with the tale of this down-onhis-luck Depression-era salesman.

Pilon： I think there’s something about us psychologically that just makes us really wired to loving the Darrow story.

Greene： Well Mary， tell me about this very important lawsuit. It was an economics professor from California named Ralph Anspach who spent years in a legal battle with Parker Brothers over Monopoly.

Pilon： Sure. So in the early 1970s， Ralph Anspach， who was a professor at San Francisco State University—he was living in Berkeley. He had two young boys. And he had played Monopoly， of course， and thought that the world needed a more philosophically pleasing version of the game. He felt like Monopoly the game was teaching people things that were bad in real life. And at the time， the OPEC oil cartels were really big news. There was a lot of 9）cynicism because of Watergate. So he creates this game called Anti-Monopoly. And it isn’t long before he hears from Parker Brothers’ lawyers， who said， you know， you need to stop making this game.

Greene： You can’t do that.

Pilon： Yeah. You can’t make Anti-Monopoly. And that kicks off a legal battle that ends up going on for 10 years. And in the course of that argument， which is， you know， whether Monopoly and Anti-Monopoly could be confused—and they’d rip apart trademark law and copyright law and all these other things as it winds through the court system. Ralph finds out about Lizzie， and he gets all these documents. He starts traveling around the country， interviewing the Quakers and some of the early players. He starts finding these pre-Parker Brothers boards. And he becomes a detective， trying to 10）unravel the true story of Monopoly—and some of his fate 11）hinging on that story and that the game had this whole life before Parker Brothers entered the picture.

Greene： What has kept Monopoly so popular for so many years？

Pilon： Monopoly， specifically—I think now it’s so wrapped up in 12）nostalgia for people. I mean， one of my favorite debates to have is with game designers who say， you know， the game stinks and here’s why. And I think they bring up valid points， but I feel like that’s， like， 13）critiquing the Model T for not being a good car. It’s like， well， it was good for what it was， but it was also created a century ago. And I think that we could appreciate it for what it was.

But， like， I love Settlers of Catan. Like， we can have multiple games. That’s OK. And I think that when you talk to people about Monopoly， they love talking about their memories associated with it. And for me， I’m the same way. I mean， when I think Monopoly， I think of my family playing at the holidays. And so I think now people have 14）projected so much of their own memories and moments onto it that that will keep it going for a long time because it’s just this multi-generational thing that everybody can share.

Greene： Mary， thank you so much for coming in and talking about Monopoly and the book. We really appreciate it.

Pilon： Thanks so much for having me.

（Soundbite of Song， “Under the Boardwalk”）

大衛·格林（主持人）：我們來給大家講述的是關于一款棋盤游戲—《大富翁》的精彩的起源故事。這款游戲讓人一開始玩就容易上癮，對吧？其實，這款游戲的真實起源故事更是引人入勝。對此非常著迷的是作家兼記者瑪麗·皮隆，她出版了一本新書叫《壟斷者》。她對這個故事的描述正如我們所知的一樣。那是美國經濟大蕭條時期，一位名為查爾斯·達羅的銷售員失業了，迫切需要養家糊口。他在他那又黑又潮的地下室里，埋頭研發一款棋盤游戲，這款游戲將成為美國的一個標志。

瑪麗·皮隆：從公眾的視角來看，我認為達羅的故事是美好的。你懂的，誰會不愿意相信他們能夠在國家某個最黑暗的時期里扎身地下室并創造出能改變自己命運、讓每個人都大富大貴并功成名就的作品呢？我是說，我覺得這是個偉大的故事。我甚至無法數清在過去幾年里多少次有人對我說：“噢，對了，你在創作的書是關于《大富翁》游戲的。”這游戲是在經濟大蕭條時期開發出來的，對吧？我的意思是，這個故事已經家喻戶曉。而實際上我認為現實的故事更有意思。

格林：《大富翁》游戲的真實故事早在查爾斯·達羅“擲骰子”之前就發生—實際上是幾十年前—一位住在華盛頓哥倫比亞特區、名為莉齊·瑪吉的女士為一款名為《地產大亨》的游戲申請了專利，該游戲是對財富的集中壟斷的一個巨大諷刺。不過她的這款游戲和當今版本的《大富翁》游戲有著極大的相似。

皮隆：所以說莉齊·瑪吉是位相當驚人的女性。她是直言不諱的女權主義者。她當過演員，參加過一些表演，曾創作過一些詩歌，還是一名游戲設計師。她為她的游戲申請專利的時候，女性還無投票權。我對此非常吃驚。我想啊，你知道，女游戲設計師—她們現在正變得越來越有牽引力。但是仍是不尋常。而且在她申請專利那會兒，在美國只有不到百分之一的專利權屬于女性。

格林：但莉齊還是一個罕見的例子。她擁有專利權，而且她的游戲開始風靡全國各地，包括新澤西州大西洋城的貴格會，教徒們把所有大西洋城的街道名字都加進游戲里—大西洋大道、肯塔基州大道、公園廣場。查爾斯·達羅通過他的一位貴格會教徒朋友首次接觸了這款棋盤游戲并把它當作自己的作品出售給了帕克兄弟公司。像很多美國人一樣，該公司將游戲與這個大蕭條時期運氣不佳的銷售員的故事搭配起來。

皮隆：我想我們的某種心理總是促使我們迷戀達羅的故事。

格林：那么瑪麗，跟我講講那個非常重要的官司吧，那是一位來自加利福尼亞州的名為拉爾夫·安斯波的經濟學教授，他多年來與帕克兄弟公司在《大富翁》游戲官司上糾纏不清。

皮隆：當然可以。那是在20世紀70年代早期，拉爾夫·安斯波是舊金山州立大學的一名教授—他住在伯克利。他膝下育有二子。他自然也玩過《大富翁》游戲，覺得這個世界需要一個更為哲學的討人喜歡的游戲版本。他感覺《大富翁》游戲是在教人們一些在現實生活中不好的東西。當時，歐佩克（石油輸出國組織）石油科特爾（同業聯盟）是重磅新聞。水門事件引發了潮水般的冷嘲熱諷。于是他開發了名為《反壟斷》的游戲。不久之后，他便被帕克兄弟公司的律師告誡說，“你必須停止制作這款游戲”。

格林：你不能那么做。

皮隆：對！你不能制作《反壟斷》游戲。從此便開啟了長達十年的官司糾紛。你知道，在這場關于《大富翁》和《反壟斷》這兩款游戲是否會被混淆的爭辯過程中—他們周旋于《商標法》和《專利法》，還有其他法律，貫穿了法庭系統。拉爾夫發現了創始人莉齊，手頭掌握了相關文件。他開始周游全國，采訪那些貴格會教徒們和一些早期玩家。他開始尋找這些在帕克兄弟公司買下游戲之前的棋盤。之后他變成了一名偵探，試圖弄清楚《大富翁》的真實故事和他與那個故事相關的某種宿命，以及還原這款游戲在被帕克兄弟公司買下之前的所有經歷。

格林：《大富翁》游戲何以能風靡那么多年呢？

皮隆：《大富翁》，確切來講—我覺得現在的人們是如此地鐘愛懷舊。我的意思是，我最喜歡的辯論之一是跟那些游戲設計師，你知道，因為他們說：“這游戲已經過時發臭了，這就是原因。”我覺得他們提出了有用的觀點，但我感覺這就好比是在批評T型車不是好的車一樣，其實，它的價值就體現在它的那個年代，它也是誕生在一個世紀以前。所以我認為我們可以欣賞它的歷史價值。

但就好像我喜愛《卡坦島》這個游戲。就像我們可以有很多不同類型的游戲。這沒問題啊。我覺得當你跟人們聊起《大富翁》這個游戲，他們喜歡談論與之相關的記憶。而對于我來說，我也是這樣。我是說，當我想起《大富翁》這個游戲，我就想起我的家人們在假日里一起玩游戲的情景。所以我想現在人們投射了很多自己的回憶和經歷在游戲中，這足以讓它維持風光很長一段時間，因為這是一件維系多代人共同回憶的產品。

格林：瑪麗，非常感謝你來做客本節目并與我們分享《大富翁》的起源和你的新書。真的很感謝。

皮隆：非常感謝你的邀請。（歌曲《在木板路下》片段）